How can we produce more manure on-farm for our bananas?

Throughout East Africa farmers prefer manure as the best alternative to make bananas more productive. Yet, many smallholders don’t have the land or capital to raise cattle. A just completed publication for farm households and field organizations details the experiences of farm households in Central Uganda in producing more manure on farm on-farm for their bananas. They used zero-grazed goats fed with hedgerows of fodder shrubs and prunings from pre-existing trees. The manure and mulch applied to bananas increased production by nearly three times. The publication, also available in Luganda, is a guide to set up a zero-grazed goat operation with on-farm fodder resources. The work was carried out with funding from the Austrian Development Agency and two CGIAR Resarch Programs – ‘Roots, Tubers and Bananas’ and ‘Humidtropics’.